Ballarat GovHub

Project Details

Developer: Development Victoria
Type: Infrastructure/Commercial/Residential
Location: City of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Date: April 2021
Lifespan: 60 years
LCA authored by Jonathan Gieselbach of Cerclos and the critical review has been conducted by Tim Grant of Life Cycle Strategies.

Cerclos is proud to be a part of this great initiative and contributed to this project by modelling the life cycle impacts of the new construction and fit-out design and suggesting options to reduce carbon emissions and achieve points as part of the Green Star certification.

The Victorian Government is investing in the future of regional Victoria by establishing a new GovHub in the City of Ballarat. Development Victoria is leading the delivery of the project, in partnership with Regional Development Victoria, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and the City of Ballarat. City of Ballarat is committed to sustainable development and is aiming for carbon neutral. The Ballarat GovHub was completed in April 2021, with tenants now moving into the building. An official launch was held on 21 April 2021.

Head Contractor: Kane Nicholson Joint Venture
ESD/Sustainability: Sam Turner (Aecomm)
Architect: John Wardle Architects
Anchor Tenant: VIC government

Project Features

Life Span of Building

For the purposes of this study, a default service life of the building of 60 years has been applied in accordance with the Green Star requirements.

Building Maintenance and Operation

The frequency of materials used for replacement or repair is calculated via the product life spans for various building elements. The frequency of trade staff requirements and maintenance equipment requirements is intrinsically linked to the building component that is being repaired or replaced. For maintenance tasks not related to materials repair or replacement (for example window cleaning which requires no materials added to the building) the frequency is researched, applied to the model and verified.

Embodied Carbon reduction

The project team was responsible for significant upfront emission reduction with the following improvement strategies:

Use of mass timber in framing, floors and walls
Timber ceilings
Recycled brick wall
30% Fly-ash as clinquer replacement in concrete mixes
Construction waste reduction

Results Summary

Kane Constructions Joint Managing Director Richard Frisina says: “The timber we sourced for the project, close to 3,000 cubic metres, was sourced from sustainable fast growth forest; and that is important as it significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the structure. Approximately 2,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved by using timber over concrete. It’s equivalent to taking 300 cars off the road in a year.”